


Depravity

by TheonSugden



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Homophobic Slurs, M/M, Past Child Abuse, i like these two, my first TWD fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-08
Updated: 2015-03-08
Packaged: 2018-03-16 23:14:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3506327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheonSugden/pseuds/TheonSugden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aaron and Eric reaffirm their love for each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Depravity

"You’re smothering me."

Aaron pulled himself away from Eric’s side of the bed, trying to come up with the best form of a sarcastic apology. He couldn’t quite manage it.

"I’m sorry. I just got so worried…"

Eric rolled his eyes.

"I wasn’t talking about our ‘relationship’" - Aaron loved how he always said ‘relationship’ in the most dramatic way possible, like the soaps he’d watched before the night of the living dental decay began - "I meant you were _literally_ smothering me.”

Aaron grinned awkwardly.

"Oh. Sorry."

Eric leaned forward to plant a soft kiss on Aaron’s mouth.

"I don’t like the nervous smiles, Aaron. I want the game show host smiles back."

"I do NOT grin like a game show host…or a cult leader, before you say it," he added, a more natural, broad smile on his face now.

"There’s my Aaron. He could sell me a clunker or get me to be one of his sister wives."

Eric reached out for Aaron’s hand, and Aaron took it. His fingers felt so frail in Aaron’s grasp. He’d always been frail, but now with the injury…

He knew they’d been lucky, compared to the group he’d scouted, but he didn’t feel lucky right now. He felt scared. If he lost Eric…

He couldn’t keep thinking about it. Eric told him they had to live in the moment, and he was right. Living in the moment had somehow managed to keep them alive longer than he’d ever expected.

He moved close to Eric again, their nude bodies covered by a thin sheet. It was a little cold outside, but they’d spent most of the day and night “reuniting” - as much as possible with Eric’s ankle injury, anyway (luckily Eric was a very creative man) - so they were warm enough.

"Want a blanket?" Aaron asked, letting Eric nuzzle his neck.

"That’s what your chest hair’s for…" Eric teased, tugging at the sweaty, matted fur just enough to get an exaggerated yelp out of his boyfriend. "So…which one do you think has the biggest dick? I’m guessing it’s the emo country boy who doesn’t bathe, but you had a closer look…"

Aaron gasped in horror, both real and fake.

"We are  _NOT_  going to do this, Eric.”

Eric kissed his chest.

"Come on. What kind of a depraved homosexual are you? We’re at the end of the world. All those sweaty, sad, sweaty, isolated, sexy, sweaty men just looking for a little comfort…"

Aaron shook his head.

"They’re straight, Eric. Or if they aren’t, they aren’t telling me otherwise."

Eric patted Aaron’s flat stomach affectionately, in that slightly patronizing way Aaron loved and hated.

"Of course they aren’t  _telling_  you. We’re supposed to seduce them. That’s what we do, remember? Today it’s Rick Grimes, tomorrow it’s Tammy Grimes.”

Aaron laughed in disbelief.

"First, how gay do you have to be to know who Tammy Grimes is, and second, the man punched me in the face. You should be warning him off, not…"

"Not checking out his ass in those tight cop pants, like you did today?"

Aaron couldn’t bring himself to deny it.

"It’s still not right, Eric."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Eric sat up, moved his head close to Aaron’s on the backboard.

"You know, Aaron, you used to be able to tell when I was joking. I have a man…I don’t need any more. Not unless they beg. Then turning them down would just mean I’m a terrible host."

Aaron smiled, this time not caring which smile it was. It was for Eric - that was all that mattered.

"Since I met them, saw what the world is really like outside of Camp Deanna…and since I almost lost you…it’s tough to joke."

Eric kissed him again, patted his stomach, this time not so patronizingly. 

"If we don’t joke, we let the world win. We let them win. We earned the jokes and the perversions and all the rest. We both know what the world did to us, Aaron."

Aaron sniffled as he remembered his mother, memories he’d do anything to forget, no matter how much he tried to twist them into some sardonic life statement or wear them as a bruised badge of honor.

"And we’re still here. They’re dead. All those bigots are dead. Everybody’s dead. I’m not going to let them win."

Aaron listened, aware that even around him Eric often wore a mask. This time he wasn’t.

"I’m a dried out twig who was ‘too gay’ for every bear and every boy at the bar and every fag-hater who walked down the street. And then brains became the catch of the day…and somehow, I caught you."

As Aaron began to cry, Eric kissed his nose. 

"And I caught you. You wanted  _me_ , not the Eagle Scout with the quick wit. You saw me. Nobody ever really had before.”

Eric’s hand wandered below the sheet, giving Aaron a gentle squeeze.

"I’ve seen plenty of you, big boy," he teased, winking lewdly.

Aaron pulled him in for a tender, then not-so-tender kiss, passion taking over as Aaron carefully moved Eric into straddling him.

"I love you," he said, not for the first time, but it always felt like the first.

"I love you too," Eric replied, before he lined himself up and gave Aaron a real reason to smile.


End file.
